


À Bientôt

by hktk



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Battle Royale - Freeform, Bittersweet Ending, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 17:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7396333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hktk/pseuds/hktk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Koga realizes too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	À Bientôt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hatoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatoe/gifts).



> for Hatoe.

“Are you ready?” Hokuto Hidaka crossed his arms, standing behind a camera, waiting for Subaru Akehoshi to be, well, ready. Subaru, on the other hand, continued to fuss with whatever he had been fussing with, with the ropes and the bandages and all that. A whimper came from that thing he was fussing with, but he didn’t really pay attention. 

When he was done, having ignored his friend up until this point, he backed away from his trophy, clapping his hands happy. “Hm-hm, he’s all ready for his close up!”

“Can you please refrain from that happy attitude? Just get ready. Are you done? C’mon. You started fussing with him again for no reason; it’s not like he’s going to need to look pretty when we’re done with him.”

“You’re no fun, Hokke…!” Subaru pouted, jutting out his lips as if he were a child who wasn’t allowed in a candy store. “Okay, okay,  _ now _ he’s ready! I think…!” 

“He’s ready enough. Move away so I can show him.” Subaru did as he was told, moving out of the shot to the side, at least for now. Hokuto moved to turn the camera on. 

But someone finally cleared his throat to demand attention, having been off to the side this entire time, unsure of whether or not he should say something. After adjusting his glasses, he said, “Should we really be doing this?”

“Don’t you think it’s a little too late for that now?” Subaru retorted, with a surprisingly nasty tone laced through his voice. Makoto shivered at it, still unsure of what he should be thinking of his friends doing this… This thing, whatever they were doing, it felt wrong to him, but he couldn’t place why. 

After all, Eichi Tenshouin had done him wrong many times. 

“I just think…” Makoto started, then paused, waiting to see his friends’ reactions to him still speaking. He continued on a few moments later. “I just think that we should think things through a little more. Right? There has to be another way.” 

An uncomfortable silence fell between the three, as they all looked down to the floor. Their “prey” whimpered again, wriggled, bound by the ropes. But no one would come to his aid, even if they wanted to, and deep down, he knew that he deserved this. He just wished he hadn’t done so many,  _ many _ bad things, and if things had been different, if he hadn’t been an idiot from the start, things would’ve been much better, much better. 

Like Subaru said, it was a little too late. 

Mao stirred in the corner, and Hokuto sighed. “We have to hurry before he wakes up.” Mao was the only one who had opposed the idea. The other members of Trickstar took to knocking him out quickly and painlessly to get him to shut the hell up. 

Hokuto switched on the camera, focusing on the quivering Eichi in the middle of the shot. The ropes against his wrists were starting to burn, and saliva dripped down his chin from having the gag of bandages in for so long. He still tried to appear dignified, but he knew all hope was lost once Subaru hopped into the shot, a little  _ too _ happy. He whimpered, and Subaru grabbed at his hair, yanking it upward. 

“Good  _ mooorning _ , Yumenosaki! Well, actually, it’s around two PM, but pretend like it’s morning, will ya?” He laughed, a little  _ too _ maniacally, and Makoto thought that he was getting  _ too _ into the role, as if he had been waiting for this his entire life. 

And then Eichi felt the cold barrel of a gun against his head, and his eyes slid shut. He said sorry to fine, sorry to Wataru, to Tori, to Keito, to all of the school. He had failed them, been a terrible president, been a terrible person. If things had been different… If things had been… 

“We’ll be going on a field trip, Idol Course. If only we had a producer to coordinate it! We could’ve had even  _ more _ fun.”

If only things had been different… Wataru wouldn’t be crying in a different room. 

 

—

 

To say that the images Koga witnessed on the screen had been horrific would have been an understatement. Even  _ he _ flinched, and looked away, and he  _ hated _ Eichi, just like Rei did. 

Just...like Rei did, yes. 

The entire idol course, save for Eichi obviously, had been shoved into a big bus, and Koga sat next to Rei like a little kindergartner. He thought about the words Subaru had said while prancing around a dead body with blood on his clothes. Kid looked like he had been waiting to do that, and Koga felt a shiver run up his spine at the thought of having ever been in the same vicinity as him during classes or otherwise. 

“Tch.” A field trip after killing someone? Although Subaru had made it sound like they were all going to a resort for the entire summer, Koga had an inkling that that wasn’t the case. Well, of  _ course _ that wasn’t the case, especially when their surroundings started to get a little more rural, a little more like it was a jungle in the middle of Japan. 

“What are you thinking about?” 

Koga jolted, looking over at the owner of the voice who had spoken to him. Rei flittered his eyes at him, a calm smile on his face that didn’t quite fit the mood. Koga looked away, crossing his arms and sliding down in his seat, as if he really  _ were _ a kindergartner. 

“Nothin’. Leave me alone.” 

Rei tilted his head. “Are you not worried over this?” he asked quietly, and for a moment, Koga thought he could hear real fear. It dissipated by the end of the sentence, especially as he continued speaking, feigning (presumably) amusement. “I wonder who the first to die will be.” 

“You’re morbid.” 

Wataru’s cries, having not ceased since he had begun apparently, could be heard from the back of the bus. 

 

— 

He wasn’t fond of boat rides. If only they had knocked him out with some kind of gas to get him over there, or taken him for a ride in a plane, but no, no, of course not, they had to make this the worst possible fucking experience for him in the world. 

Koga gripped the edge of the bed until his knuckles turned white. 

“You don’t look very good,” said Kaoru.

“Shut the hell up,” was the very generously given reply. A damned monkey could see that he didn’t look good. It wasn’t exactly rocket surgery to find a man seasick on a boat that rocked back and forth, back and forth, back and… 

He tried to think of other things. He tried to think of what he was going to do on this island. He didn’t think most of the people in his class, or school for that matter, could kill anyone. They were all weaklings, all pathetic, and although it sickened him what Subaru and Trickstar were doing, he had to give it to them for having the guts—and money?—to do it in the first place. 

But Koga knew he was different. He  _ did _ have the guts to kill someone, and that someone would be that godforsaken vampire. The one that doted on him, made fun of him, tied him up and called him a  _ dog _ .    

 

—

The first day went smoothly, at least for the pair. UNDEAD had thought to work together, but Kaoru distrusted Koga enough to leave them almost immediately. Which was a pity, since that made Adonis distrust all three of them enough to go and scout on his own. 

At the end of the day, an announcement of the deaths were made, Subaru’s happy tone chirping away annoyingly over the loudspeaker. 

“Kaoru Hakaze! Killed lovingly by Kanata Shinkai in ‘self defense’. Well done! … Wataru Hibiki! Fell off a cliff. Did he really fall on accident? Hahaha. … Nazuna Nito, Mika Kagehira! Killed accidentally by Shu Itsuki when he was aiming for someone else. Well done! … That’s it for today. Please try your hardest overnight!” 

Koga pulled at the collar around his neck. The cool metal felt different than what he was used to, whether it be his own collar or necklaces. He had been trying for hours, unsuccessfully, to get it off, not quite convinced that it was wired on there for good. 

“You know that’ll never work, right?” Rei asked, poking the fire they had started with a longer stick. No one, as far as they could tell, had stayed in the starting division, having gone off to explore the rest of the island they had been ferried off to. 

“I know what I’m about!” Koga spat, irritated. Giving up on the collar (but  _ not _ because Rei said something about it!), he crossed his arms again, sinking down into the soft leaves and other debris. The ground was warm from his body heat and the fire combined, and it made him sleepy. But he knew Rei was the same—neither of them wanted to fall asleep.  

His stomach growled, and he grit his teeth. He had hoped the adrenaline would curb his appetite—unfortunately, he had skipped out on breakfast that morning, and they were all carted away to this fucking  _ game _ before lunchtime—but to no avail, apparently. 

“Here.” Rei held something in an outstretched hand, palm closed. Koga stared at it for a second, a scowl on his features, before he softened up, leaned forward, and took whatever the hell it was, careful not to burn himself over the fire. His calloused hands brushed against Rei’s smooth, silky ones, and he tried very, very hard not to think about them. Damn vampire. 

Opening his palm again after he drew his hand back, a few packets of saltine crackers sat. 

“They’re all I have,” Rei said, drawing Koga away from his thoughts again. “I eat them when I have to take the iron tablets, so I don’t get too dizzy.” Then, he chuckled. “Then again, I suppose I might need them, too… Maybe you can share.” 

“Hell no.” Koga ripped open the plastic wrapping with his teeth, practised and messy, and shoved most of the crackers in his mouth at once. He only stopped when he had too many, actually, and had to take a moment to breathe. It definitely wasn’t because Rei wore an enchanted, disappointed smile that flashed in and out with the flickering of the fire. 

But then, an idea popped into his head. All day he had racked his brain on how to murder Rei and come out on top, be the alpha male, show Rei that he wasn’t just a ‘puppy’, and had come up with nothing. This simple gesture, however, of Rei being nice to him… What if he was nice to Rei? 

He held out a packet of crackers. It was then that he noticed that Rei, even though he was so close to the fire, shivered, the way his hands trembled as he took the packet back, the coldness of his fingertips. How had Koga not noticed before? True, it  _ was _ cold out… 

Koga heaved a sigh, finished chewing; standing up, he walked around the fire, plopped himself right down next to Rei on the log he was sitting on. Hands in his coat pockets, he hesitated doing this at all, but… He really should just get it over with. 

He leaned against him, their shoulders touching. By the way Rei moved, reacted, not quite leaned away but not quite leaned further in, he had been equally surprised as Koga had been doing it. 

Koga took it a step further. 

Wrapping his arm around this mortal enemy’s waist, Koga huffed, and Rei squeaked like a poor little mouse caught in a cat’s trap. Koga pulled him in close, hoping the fact he was a walking space heater would help stop the shivering and warm him up. 

“Thank you, puppy…” Rei chuckled, leaning into the touch. “Guess you can be nice sometimes.” 

That damned nickname. “Can’t have ya dyin’ on me now,” Koga whispered, and it wasn’t entirely untrue. 

 

— 

He decided on how he was going to do it. With the knife taken from Kagehira’s dead body they came across as they walked on, as they were close again, like last night, when Rei didn’t expect it. Screams echoed throughout the dense forests, and it looked like he had been wrong after all. 

“Ah, do you think we could take a break?” Rei asked tentatively. Without waiting for an answer, however, even before he finished asking the question, Rei stopped walking, taking a seat on the bench that had probably prompted the question in the first place. 

Koga sat down next to him, and Rei scooted, without asking first, closer. Koga resisted the urge to move away again, remembering his plan. He did, however, shove his hands, one wrapped carefully around the knife’s hilt, into his pockets, hopefully without Rei noticing. By the looks of it, too, Rei didn’t. 

That was one hurdle passed. 

They sat like that in silence for several moments, the landscape completely silent now. Rei snuggled closer, and Koga did as well, and then he had the knife out, and the knife sunk deep into the soft, delicate stomach that Koga had often wished he could—no, no! Focus! With killing someone comes discipline! Isn’t that right, Koga Oogami?! Focus! 

He felt the blood pooling down across his hand before he saw it. He heard the little gasp that Rei gave off before he looked up. His vision swam, wavering between the blood and Rei’s cute little face. Focus, focus, Oogami. Focus. 

In his excitement, he had pushed Rei over on the bench, the hand on his shoulder probably bruising his frail skin beneath the thick clothes so easily. He tried not to think about his skin, how perfect it was, how porcelain like a doll… 

“Why did I do this?” 

“Gh… Do what, puppy?” 

“Stop callin’ me that!” he yelled, and it echoed against the trees on the other side of the walkway, echoed throughout the place they had stopped in, echoed, echoed, his own voice, so angry, so horrible, so bad, and it only made him angrier. He wanted everything to just  _ shut up _ , including this vampire’s ugly breathing. 

But he didn’t. 

Wet tears fell from his eyes and onto Rei’s face and clothing, onto his stomach, mingling with the too light, too thin, crimson blood that felt far, far too heavy on his hands. He drew away, leaving the knife stuck in his friend, his… his friend, yes, because that’s all they ever were, that’s all they’d ever be. 

“Rei… Rei, I don’t…” 

“It’s okay.” Rei’s voice, breath, everything about him, was shaky. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s not! It’s not fuckin’ okay! You stupid, stupid vampire!” He choked on a silent sob, forcing it to go down again. Looking around wildly, he thought to call for help, but he knew that no one would ever come, no one would ever, ever help. “I don’t know what came over me. You were just… You were just so close, so close, and I… I… I hated you.” 

Rei smiled up at him. “I’m glad you… can be so honest with…” He took a deep breath, blood dribbling out of his mouth and down his chin. “... with your feelings… puppy…” 

Koga could tell it was getting harder for the other to speak, getting harder for him to breathe. He didn’t have much longer—Koga really must’ve hit something vital, angled it in such a way that he wouldn’t even… 

Wouldn’t even… 

Get to say… 

“I love you.” 

That didn’t surprise Rei, and Koga couldn’t help but feel a little disappointment at that. Had it been obvious when he, himself, had not even known? 

“I’m… so glad… Koga.” 

“No… No, don’t  _ call  _ me that,” begged the dog. 

“I’m… in love with you, too… Thank you, for warming me up… last night… Hehe…” 

 

— 

  
Subaru giggled. “Okay! Deaths for today… Kanata Shinkai! Killed by Yuzuru Fushimi and Tori Himemiya, cause unknown. Well done! … Rei Sakuma! Killed by his doggie-woggie in a fit of passion… Well done! Everyone, please work hard tomorrow, too!” 


End file.
